A Loyal Reader Writes:
“I agree 100% with what you say about using e-mail, tweeting, etc., to stay close to your radio listeners.
“It takes about 10 seconds to reply to a listener e-mail. I try to reply to every one I get and to do it immediately if I’m on-air, and they always seem surprised that I’ve gotten back to them.”
One suggestion:
Don’t reply to the e-mails during your show.
Doing so suggests that you have time to read and answer e-mails during your radio program.
Although apparently that’s true for your show, it’s not the best image to present to your listeners.
They should be under the impression that during your show, you’re busy.
Instead, try this:
1. Assuming you do have the time, write your individual responses during your show.
2. Ten minutes after your show formally ends, send all of those individual responses.
You actually will increase your reply’s impact on the recipient.
Now it will appear that as soon as your show ended, you checked your e-mail, saw the listener’s message, and responded immediately.
Note: If you’re going to respond on-air to a current e-mail, that’s different:
“Got an e-mail from Bob over in Shillington. Says he came to the big picnic on Saturday and wants to know the name of the cute blonde who was handing out the t-shirts….”
For that type of on-air response, your listeners don’t assume you’re checking your e-mail during the program. For all they know, you have a huge support staff that scans your messages and forwards only a select few to you. (Yeah, I know: Right. Of course you do….)
